


Liar, Liar

by HuiLian



Category: Greek and Roman Mythology, Original Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 07:51:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15238800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HuiLian/pseuds/HuiLian
Summary: I lied. Let me tell you something. Forget the story you’ve been told. I was not raped; I was not forced, I was not tricked. I chose to eat that pomegranate, consciously.





	Liar, Liar

**Author's Note:**

> This was something I had written years ago, and it was just sitting there in my computer. SO I decided I'll just post it? At least someone will read it, no?

I lied. Let me tell you something. Forget the story you’ve been told. I was not raped; I was not forced, I was not tricked. I chose to eat that pomegranate, consciously.       

Sure, Hades kidnapped me. Yes, I rejected him, at first. But that was it. He did _not_ trick me into eating that pomegranate. I did _not_ cry for a whole year. In the Underworld, I changed. From maiden, to destroyer.

            I had a year all to myself in the Underworld. Hades, though he abducted me, respected my wishes and left me alone. Hades was fair. He was just. He ruled the Underworld, didn’t he? I knew if I kept him at bay, he would know, eventually. He would let me go.

            But really, I didn’t want to go. My mother, she thought I was a weak little girl. She didn’t trust me with powers. I was her daughter. I was Kore to her, the maiden, and only the maiden.

            When Hades took me in, he offered me half his kingdom. He gave me powers, he said he would make me Queen of the Underworld.  I refused at first. I was not used to darkness. I thought I belonged in the world above, between the meadow and the river. I thought my life would only be about singing songs of happiness, playing with the nature spirits.

            Weeks passed. I realized, slowly, that I wanted to be powerful. I wanted to be Queen of Hell, I wanted the mortals to fear me. I wanted to stay in the Underworld. I never wanted to return to my mother again.

            When Hades offered me the pomegranate, he did _not_ trick me. He told me Zeus had ordered him to release me and that Hermes would come to take me back to my mother. He extended his arm, revealing the pomegranate. He told me that if I ate the fruit, I would have to stay in the Underworld forever. I took it.

            “Will you make me your queen?” I asked, still playing with the fruit.

            “Of course.”

            “Will you respect me and treat me as an equal?”

            “Yes.”

            “Will you let me rule the Underworld with you?”

            “Yes.”

            I didn’t hesitate. I opened the pomegranate, I took the seeds. I bit it with relish, savoring each and every bite. I let the juice dripped down my chin. I wanted to finish the fruit, to eat it all, but then I remembered. I heard my mother’s cry, I could almost see the mortals suffering. I left half the fruit uneaten.

When Hermes came, I obeyed his orders. I followed him to the world above. Hades, he didn’t even complaint. He knew that I would return to him. Every single being that ate the food of the Underworld must spend their time in the Underworld.   
            My mother fussed over me, checking every inch of my body. I told her again and again that I was fine, that no harm was done. She didn’t buy it. She took me to the Fates, and asked them about me. I already knew the answer.

            I created a major fight between the Olympians. Who’d have thought that sweet, little Kore would eat the food of the Underworld willingly? When my mother said that I was obviously tricked into eating that pomegranate, I nodded.  Hades was called. A compensation was made. I was to stay for six months in the Underworld, another six with my mother. No one was ecstatic, but everybody was content.

            So that was it. One lie that led to all these false stories. A simple nod. They began to say that I was forced to eat the fruit. They said that I cried for my mother. They said that I waited eagerly for my time above and dreaded my time to return to the Underworld.  They say that Hades trapped me, and that essentially, I was still Kore, even after centuries in the Underworld.

            Now, my name was not Kore, it was Persephone. It meant the bringer of destruction. Quite a change from maiden. Yet I lived up to my name. The Queen of the Underworld was not one to rule with compassion and mercy. To some, their worst fear of the Underworld was not Hades, it was not Thanathos, it was not Charon, not Hecate. It was me.

            I became mistress of the Erinyes, avenger of crimes. When they set to avenge someone, they asked for my permission. My name was forbidden to speak in the world above. Only my priestess could utter my name, and then only in curses.

 I devised the punishments of the damned. I cursed those who dared to take my husband. My wrath occurred to those who disrespected me, my favour was sought by all who wished to gain passage to Elysium. I ruled mortals in live and death. Not even Zeus had that kind of power.

            Would you say I hated the Underworld? I was powerful in it. I waited not for the time I would return to the world above, but for the time I would return to Hades’ hands. I was a Queen in the Underworld, not just a daughter of Demeter. I had power over spirits, not just trying to make flowers grow. I was a goddess in the Underworld, a queen. Why would I hate coming back to it?

            I confronted my mother again and again that I wanted to be in the Underworld all the time. I didn’t want to go to the world above, I was happier in the Underworld. But the deal was made. I had to be with my mother for half a year. And there, I sulked. I was nothing to my mother, just another of her daughters. She loved me, yes, but she thought I was nothing. She didn’t care about who I am, or what I was capable of. She didn’t care that I was the Queen of Underworld. I was just Kore to her.

            When it was time for me to join my mother, I would walk behind her. I watched her bring life back to the earth. I would argue with her, constantly, for six horrible months. She would shelter me, pamper me, and protect me. I didn’t need it. I was Queen of Hell. I did not need protection.

            My mother would complain, again and again, of how I was a fool. She would shout, again and again, how Hades was a no-good, how she would have gotten me a nice husband if only I did not eat that cursed fruit. She would cry, again and again, about me eating that pomegranate.

            I told my mother again and again that I did not want a god like Apollo, who thought a wife was a trophy. I did not want a god like Ares, who cheated constantly. I did not want a god like Zeus, who did not even respect the agreement he made with his wife. I wanted a god like Hades, who was faithful (for a god), and waited for his wife to return. He saw me, he wanted me, and he took care of me. He gave me his wealth, he gave me his kingdom. My mother refused to believe it.

            I loved the Underworld, I ruled it. I loved Hades, my husband, my lover. I detested my mother, I detested the world above. Was it still unclear that I ate that fruit willingly?

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**Author's Note:**

> check out my tumblr (huilian.tumblr.com)


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